1977–78 Lancashire Cup

1977–78 Lancashire Cup
StructureRegional knockout championship
Teams14
WinnersWorkington Town
Runners-upWigan

The 1977–78 Lancashire Cup tournament was the sixty-fifth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup had been contested. For the first time in many years, there was a new name on the trophy as this time it was relative newcomers Workington Town who joined the league in 1945. Workington Town won the trophy by beating Wigan in the final by the score of 16-13. The match was played at Wilderspool, Warrington, now in the County Palatine of Chester but (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 9,548 and receipts were £5,038. After relatively little success in the competition, Workington Town had reached the semi-final stage in 1973, 1974 and 1975, had been runner-up in 1976, and now winner in 1977. They would go on to be runners-up again in 1978 and 1979.

Background

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The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season’s total of 14 with no junior/amateur clubs taking part. The same fixture format was retained, but due to the number of participating clubs, this resulted in one "blank" or "dummy" fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round.

Competition and results

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[1][2][3]

Round 1

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Involved 7 matches (with one "blank" fixture) and 14 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Blackpool Borough 6-24 Whitehaven Borough Park
2 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Rochdale Hornets 27-5 Barrow Athletic Grounds
3 Sun 21 Aug 1977 St. Helens 49-3 Swinton Knowsley Road 3000 [4]
4 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Warrington 19-13 Huyton Wilderspool [5]
5 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Widnes 22-11 Leigh Naughton Park [6]
6 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Wigan 42-5 Oldham Central Park [7][4]
7 Sun 21 Aug 1977 Workington Town 17-12 Salford Derwent Park
8 blank blank

Round 2 - Quarter-finals

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Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Sun 28 Aug 1977 Rochdale Hornets 4-4 St. Helens Athletic Grounds 2485 [4]
2 Sun 28 Aug 1977 Wigan 52-8 Whitehaven Central Park [7]
3 Sun 28 Aug 1977 Workington Town 8-6 Widnes Derwent Park [6]
4 Warrington bye [5]

Round 2 - replays

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Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Tue 30 Aug 1977 St. Helens 16-5 Rochdale Hornets Knowsley Road 3500 [4]

Round 3 – Semi-finals

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Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 21 Sep 1977 Workington Town 5-4 St. Helens Derwent Park 5110 [4]
2 Wed 28 Sep 1977 Wigan 17-8 Warrington Central Park [7][5]

Round 3 – Semi-finals - replays

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Involved 1 match and 2 clubs

Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
1 Wed 29 Sep 1976 Workington Town 26-15 Warrington Derwent Park [5]

Final

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Game No Fixture date Home team Score Away team Venue Att Rec Notes Ref
Saturday 29 October 1977 Workington Town 16-13 Wigan Wilderspool 9,548 5,038 1 [7][8]

Teams and scorers

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[7][8]

Workington Town Wigan
teams
Paul Charlton 1 Malcolm Swann[1]
David Collister 2 Green Vigo
John Risman 3 David Willicombe
Ian Wright[2] 4 Steve Davies[3]
Iain McCorquodale[4][5] 5 Jimmy Hornby[6]
Ray Wilkins 6 Alan Taylor[7]
Arnold "Boxer" Walker 7 Jimmy Nulty[8]
Derek Watts 8 Brian Hogan
Alan Banks 9 Geoff Aspinall[9]
Eddie Bowman 10 Robert Irving
Les Gorley 11 Bill Ashurst
Peter Gorley 12 Bill Melling[10]
William Pattinson 13 Bob Blackwood[11]
David Atkinson (for Paul Charlton 62min) 14 John Burke (for Steve Davies 59min)
Ian Hartley 15 David Regan[12] (for Bill Melling 59min)
16 score 13
9 HT 8
Scorers
Tries
Ian Wright (1) T Jimmy Nulty (1)
Ray Wilkins (1) T Bill Ashurst (1)
T David Willicombe (1)
Goals
Iain McCorquodale (4) G Jimmy Nulty (1)
G John Burke (1)
Drop Goals
Arnold "Boxer" Walker (2) DG
Referee W H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)
Man of the match Arnold "Boxer" Walker - Workington Town - scrum-half
sponsored by Rugby Leaguer
Competition Sponsor Forshaws (Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd)

Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

The road to success

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First round Second round Semi-finals Final
            
Workington Town 17
Salford 12
Workington Town 8
Widnes 6
Widnes 22
Leigh 11
Workington Town 5
St. Helens 4
Rochdale Hornets 27
Barrow 5
Rochdale Hornets 4-5
St. Helens 4-16
St. Helens 49
Swinton 3
Workington Town 16
Wigan 13
Wigan 42
Oldham 5
Wigan 52
Whitehaven 8
Blackpool Borough 6
Whitehaven 24
Wigan 17
Warrington 8
Warrington 19
Huyton 13
Warrington
bye
blank
blank

Notes

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1 * Wilderspool was the home ground of Warrington from 1883 to the end of the 2003 Summer season when they moved into the new purpose built Halliwell Jones Stadium. Wilderspool remained as a sports/Ruugby League ground and is/was used by Woolston Rovers/Warrington Wizards junior club.

The ground had a final capacity of 9,000 although the record attendance was set in a Challenge cup third round match on 13 March 1948 when 34,304 spectators saw Warrington lose to Wigan 10-13.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Rugby League Project".
  2. ^ Jack Winstanley & Malcolm Ryding (1991). John Player Yearbook 1975–76. Queen Anne Press.
  3. ^ Frank Butler and Patrick Collins (1976). News of the World Football Annual 1976–77 - 90th year. News of the World Ltd.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Saints Heritage Society - History - Season 1896-97".
  5. ^ a b c d "Warrington Wolves - Results Archive - 1897". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Widnes Vikings - History - Season In Review - 1896-97".
  7. ^ a b c d e "Wigan "Cherry and White" archived results". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  8. ^ a b Raymond Fletcher and David Howes (1991). Rothmans Rugby League Yearbook 1991-100. Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0 35617852 8.
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